Before his annexation of Crimea, Putin exercised much of his geopolitical influence through a menacing sort of strategic ambiguity. He could use Russian gas as a weapon one moment, then play geopolitical partner and peacemaker the next. But his seizure of Ukraine has removed all ambiguity.

Having voted for the left in 2007 and again in 2012 only makes it easier for me to say how much this business of court-sanctioned wiretaps placed on Nicolas Sarkozy over the course of a full year is both baffling and, as a matter of principle, quite shocking.

It's time for leftist intellectuals and activists to conduct a serious re-assessment and rethink of their movement. To do otherwise could relegate the left to irrelevance or, even worse, ridicule and embarrassment for some time to come.

It was only a matter of time before Al Saadi Al Qaddafi, the notorious, soccer-obsessed third son of toppled Libyan leader Col. Moammar Qaddafi would be extradited to Libya by Niger. His trial is likely to shed light on a dark and brutal era in the history of Libyan football.

More than 120 community radio activists from 14 Arab countries gathered at the lowest spot on Earth to talk about the challenges of producing, broadcasting and sustaining community owned media, especially radio.

This past week 11 Libyan physicians, including diabetes specialists, ophthalmologists and pharmacists, participated in an intensive three-day certificate program in 'Retinopathy Screening for Primary Care,' in Istanbul, Turkey.

The success of Africa's integration will be based on the full cooperation between political leaders, citizens and a unified mission for sustainable and inclusive growth for all. The laws and regulations are increasingly in place, now action is left to the people.

Although the UN does important humanitarian work, it is overgrown with the weeds of a dysfunctional bureaucracy and spineless leadership, and has become a watering hole for states that are prepared to sanction sex discrimination and extremist ideology without fear of serious challenge by the world body.

The deadly turmoil that erupted in Juba last month threatens to ignite a full scale ethnic civil war across South Sudan. If peace talks between the government and the White Army rebels fail to stem the violence, a potential genocide may result.

If we are so smart why are we so dumb? I am referring to the "intelligence" that our spy agencies have gathered at great cost in both massive secret black box budgets and, much more important, the surrender of our personal freedom to the snooping eyes of our modern surveillance state.

It is that time of year again when analysts are asked to put on their thinking cap and try to predict what the coming 12 months may hold for some the more troubled regions of the world. This is by no means a simple exercise.

It is said that war is a failure of diplomacy. It is. But the assassination of a humane and intelligent diplomat is an even greater default, for it is the equivalent of international suicide. Chris' love for diplomacy was not that of large abstraction but of intimate humanity.